Devotional
-
From Hand Washing to #SyrophoenicianLivesMatter: Mark 7
As human beings we have an annoying trait of complicating what God instructs us to do. This is where Mark 7 begins, but not where it ends. At the start of the chapter it is the Pharisees who are complicating God’s instruction. In fact, Jesus will go on to explain they are doing something even… Continue reading
-
The Breath of Life: Acts 2
1. The Invisible This post is dedicated to George Floyd who had the breath of life taken from him in horrific circumstances on 25th May 2020. I am something of a fan of the works of J. R. R. Tolkien. For me, his book the Lord of the Rings is a masterpiece. One of the… Continue reading
-
An Enarratio of Psalm 2: Behold God’s Anointed
This post follows on from an earlier post: An Enarratio of Psalm 1: Behold the Man. This is therefore the second in what is an experiment which asks what we miss with modern biblical criticism and what we can gain by sympathy with some aspects of Augustine’s interpretive paradigm for reading the Psalms. It bears… Continue reading
-
The Voice of the Good Shepherd is Blowin’ in the Wind
‘I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me – just as the Father knows me and I know the Father – and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They too will listen… Continue reading
-
Life Understood Backwards
Looking Back The philosopher Soren Kierkegaard claimed that “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” The experience of the two disciples on the Road to Emmaus was something like this. How could they understand Jesus’ life at its end? Even at the end did it make sense? Cleopas and the… Continue reading
-
An Enarratio of Psalm 1: Behold the Man
The enarratio (exposition or setting forth) of Psalm 1, below, is not an effort at modern exegesis. It does not progress from distinct and careful assessment of textual, canonical, or theological context and then move on to drawing some spiritual lessons for today. It is of the same ilk as Augustine’s Enarrationes in Psalmos, or… Continue reading
-
Discipleship in an Age of Corona
One Situation Many of us will have more time available to read the Bible and to pray in our present situation. I appreciate that this is not true of everyone, of course. We are also likely to need to make more effort to nurture our own souls due to the difficulty in having face-to-face fellowship… Continue reading
-
Between Cross and Resurrection: A Holy Saturday Reflection on Psalm 130
At the end of Chapter 23 of Luke’s gospel, we read of these events that followed Jesus’ death on the cross: There was a man by the name of Joseph, a member of the Jewish High Council, a man of good heart and good character. He had not gone along with the plans and actions… Continue reading
-
Palm Sunday 2020: Gathered though Scattered
Given the challenging events of the past days and weeks perhaps some of us have forgotten which day of the week it is. Palm Sunday is the day we remember Jesus arriving in Jerusalem at Passover, less than a week before he would be executed by the Romans. The name Palm Sunday arises from the… Continue reading
-
Reel Spirituality: My Top 10 ‘Theological’ Films
Top 10 lists can be rather self indulgent. And if you find them so you might want to skip this post! I am hoping, however, that this post might have some value in celebrating the role that good cinema can have on our personal spirituality. I am hoping that this post will inspire some dialogue—please… Continue reading
About Me
This blog’s central aim is to explore all aspects of how the Psalter (the biblical psalms) functions as Scripture today.
To this end it will also include book reviews on the Book of Psalms and related topics.
Some posts will reflect more broadly on biblical interpretation or hermeneutics.
If you like what you see here and want to arrange for me to give a lecture, run a teaching event or a short retreat based around The Psalms then contact me so we can discuss how this might work.
PsalterMark 